Shipping or mailing container



NY- 7, 1944. M. w. ZIMMERMAN SHIPPNG OR MAILING CONTAINER Filed Dec. 12', 1940 INVENTQR MaTo/v WmZ/Mnfm/v ATTORNEY lllllllllllllll.

Patented Nov. 7, 1944 Morton W. Zimmerman, Brooklyn, N.

Application December 12, 1940, Serial No. 369,718

2 claims.

This invention relatesigenerally to packages. More particularly my invention relates to an improved construction "for shipping or mailing boxes, cases or packages lspeciiically adapted to carry an envelope `or letter along with the shipment of goods. 1 i

One `ofthe :objects of my invention is to pro- Vide a novel shipping; or mailing container of the character described which shall be so constructed that an invoice or letterimay `be readily sent along with the shipment, before or after vthe container has been packed and which upon arrival at its destination maybe easily recognized and readilyremoved either before or after opening the container.4 l

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel shipping ormailing container oi' the character described having means whereby areadily accessible invoice envelope or letter may be forwarded with the shipment, which shall be char-` acterized by its simplicity of construction and which will avoid the inconvenience and unpleasantness of licking or otherwise pasting the ad-l hesive naps disclosed in the relatively complicated invoice envelope attaching means heretofore employed.

Further objects of my invention will become apparent in the following detailed description thereof.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shipping or mailing container constructed in accordance with my invention and having a portion of a wall broken away to disclose the construction thereof;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged cross-sectional views taken substantially on the lines 2-2 and 3 3, respectively, of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a shipping or mailing container, similar to Fig. 1,

but illustrating a modied form of my invention;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a shipping or mailing container, similar to Figs. 1 and 4 but illustrating a still further modification of my invention; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, I have disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a shipping or mailing container I0 which I have shown. for purposes of illustration to be in the familiar rectangular form of a cardboard packing carton but which, it is understood, may be of any other suitable shape or form.

The container I0 may comprise the usual pairs of side walls II, endwalls I2, bottom Wall I4 and .top Wall comprising the pairs of inner flaps I5 and outer naps I6.

As shown, an adhesive strip I'I may `heemployed along the junction of the free ends of the flaps I5 to seal the package in the customary maner well known to the art.

It is a well known and desirable practice, when shipping merchandise, to send along a bill or` invoice with the goods. Many attempts have been made to devise arrangements and constructions to prevent such invoice from being lost,

mutilated or overlooked and thereby toY eliminate inefficiency and delay caused by having `to furnish `duplicate invoices. tofore made to solve this problem have been expensive due tothe fact they were` complicated and elaborate. l

lIn accordance with my invention I lhave provided the following relatively simple and yet eiiicient construction and arran-gement constituting a denite advance in the art.

The walls of the carton I0 may be made of the standard type of construction comprising an inner corrugated cardboard member 2D to which there is adhesively attached an inner sheet of cardboard material 2| and an outer sheet of cardboard material 22.

On any selected wall of the carton IIJ, such as, for example, one of the outer ilaps I5 of the top wall and for a predetermined area, the adhesive, attaching the sheet 22 to the corrugated member 20 is omitted. Such predetermined area between the under-surface of the unattached portion 22a of the sheet 22 and the upper surface of the member 20, designated by the letter A, forms a pocket for and is preferably made large enough to freely accommodate a standard invoice envelope E which it is desired to send along with the shipment.

As shown in Fig. 1 a slit 25 is provided in the outer sheet 22, disposed adjacent one end of said pocket A and communicating therewith.

It is thus seen from the above described construction that an invoice carrying envelope or letter which it is desired to send along with the shipment is merely inserted through the slit 25 into the pocket A. Suitable indicia may be provided on the outer surface of the flap I5 containing the pocket A to call attention to the invoice or letter,

'I'o facilitate the removal Vof the envelope E from the pocket A, I have provided the corners of the slit 25 with transverse slit portions 25a so that with the finger, or with any suitable instrument one may pry open a corner 25a to tear These attempts hereaway the portion of the layer 22 overlying and forming the top Wall of the pocket A to permit the release of the envelope E.

As shown in Figs. and 6, if desired, there may be provided in the free portion 22a of the layer 22 an elongated aperture 25. This aperture 25 is of such size and is so disposed that the address on the invoice envelope in the pocket A will be visible through the opening 25 and thereby dispense withwtheinecessity ofmarking the 4carton with the address.

It is seen from the foregoing description that my invention may be satisfactorily Worked out'. in connection with any type of carton, made from any suitable type of materialcomprising layers or sheets adhesvely joined.

It is also noted that the pocket A and the slit 25 communicating therewith; instead of being positioned on a closing flap of the carton or container l0 may be pitioned on any other desired M'Wall1fthereof and that. myA invention extends to such use.

Fig. 4 I haveishown a modified form of caryryingout my basicinventivev idea. In this'form,

vinstead'of -forming a pocketf by providing a free` unattached portion "of l`the uppermost layer of a "iap, or Wall of the `carton A1U', I provide a slit 30 Erunningclear through the entire thickness of the f-lapl'5. `Inl this form of my invention it is merelfly-necessary to'insert'the' invoice envelope or let- V -ter E' through the slit 30 to lie between the under-surfaces of the'flapl5 and of the flap I6. If there is noapf I6 then the envelope E would bef-held captive between' the wall l5 and the goods vivi-thin the container. Ifdesired, to facilitate the' "-finsertionand-'removalof 'the envelope E', I provide an additional through slit l3| transverse to `V"theposition of the s1it30 and joined thereto at the corner v33x An ordinary paster tab 32 may ".-thenbe placedover the corner 33 to prevent loss of the envelope Eor to `prevent access to the materials inside the carton I0'. In this form of my invention it is noted that an additional slit similar to the slit 30 and parallel thereto may be provided at the free end of the slit 3l.

In the Figs. 1 to 3 and Figs. 5 and 6 forms of my invention a removable adhesive protect've strip 40 may be provided overlying all but o e corner of the slit as shown in Fig. 1.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have hereinfdescribed thezprinciple and operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the y best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it f out=by`other.means. Also, While it is designed to understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and-that the invention can be carried use the various features and elements in the combinationand-relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted Without interfering With the more general results outlinedyfand the'rinventiorr` extends to such use.

Having-described'imy invention, I claim. as new l'xIn a vcontainerfoffthe'I class described a wall comprising acorrugated sheet ofmaterial, a flat sheet of material overlying said `corrugated sheet 'and adhesivelyfattached'thereto except vfor a predeterminedarea' thereof; the portions of said corrugat'ed sheet and saidfoverlying layer in said predetermined yarea/being free and unattached to form a pocket therebetween for the reception of an invoice' envelope'or letter land a slit in said overlying layerycommunicating with said pocket,

said'slit being 'of s'ucient size vto permit the said slit comprises a main-portion and an auxiliaryfportion at an anglethereto for the purposes setiforth.

MOR'I'ON WM.' ZIMMERMAN. 

